John Caldon’s Two-Rule Playbook for Business Success

A note to young leaders.

Business is not that complicated.

Walking down George Street with the late John Caldon, former Deputy MD of Macquarie Group, he once mused:

“Professional services businesses are not hard, Adam. You just need to do two things: be likeable and be smarter than the client.

If you have to choose one, choose smart.

People will sometimes do business with someone they don’t like. but no one will ever hire someone who knows less than they do.

But it’s not all that hard to be both. And you can do a lot of business that way.”

So, ask yourself: is your organisation filled with highly likeable people who are also world-class in their field?

If so, success will surely follow.

If not, why not?